Immigration and Diversity Visa Lottery

The Diversity Visa Lottery seems to be improving the lives of so many people, especially foreign workers and immigrants from eligible countries. Incepted in 1990 by the Department of State, diversity visas, also called the green card lottery, grants roughly 55,000 tickets each year.

Continents like Asia and Europe who have low rates of immigration in the United States have higher chances of winning visas than South and Central America. Africa– which has the second highest chance of getting a winner after Asia– has more people coming into the country based on economic hardship.

In reality, the program has received complaints because it is initially based on random selection, “with the final winners chosen after they meet certain criteria.”

To be eligible, an applicant must have completed high school or have at least “two recent years of work in an occupation requiring a set amount of training or experience.”

U.S. Congress is currently working on immigration legislation and want to raise the quota to make pathway to citizenship fair and balanced.

Essentially, the bill would limit the number of people admitted into the country. Another thing it would do is raise border security. In a 67-27 vote, the senate supported a measure that would “double the size of the U.S. Border Patrol and require an additional 350 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border, at a price tag its backers say will reach $38 billion,” something that is frustrating for the immigrant community.

The last time that immigration law was altered was in 1986. According to a report released by the Washington Post, the law didn’t work because “the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the country soared, from an estimated 5 million in 1986 to 11.1 million today.”

Though Ronald Reagan hopped to put a stop to illegal immigration into the United States, the reform bill gave amnesty to “any unauthorized immigrants who had already been living in the United States continuously since 1982 became eligible for temporary legal status, after paying a $185 fee and demonstrating “good moral character. After 18 months, they could then become eligible for green cards, provided they learned to speak English.”

The 1986 law is known as the largest legalization program in U.S. history because it “awarded green cards to about 2.7 million immigrants.”

About Marcelle Hutchins

I am a Freelance Journalist and I provide important data and information to the public through Mytimetovote.